According to legend, the Chinese zodiac’s twelve animals were chosen through a race. The purpose of this race is to provide a time measurement for the participants. There could only be twelve winners, and the animals had to cross a fast-flowing river and reach the finish line on the coast in order to win.
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How did the Jade Emperor choose the animal order?
To figure out which animals, Jade Emperor invited them to a party and kept track of the sequence in which they arrived. The animals would have to cross a river in what is known as The Great Race to get to Jade Emperor’s party.
Why are there 12 different animals in Chinese New Year?
According to legend, the 12 Chinese zodiac animals were chosen in a race organized by the Jade Emperor, a powerful god in Chinese religion. A pig, dog, rooster, monkey, goat, horse, snake, dragon, rabbit, tiger, ox, and rat were among the 12 creatures who won the race.
What are the origins of the Chinese zodiac animals?
The twelve animals that make up the Chinese zodiac initially appeared during the Zhan Guo dynasty. Although no one knows when the zodiac was essentially founded, it was formally recognized during the Han Dynasty, which was almost 2000 years ago. During the North Zhou Dynasty, the zodiac became a popular method of determining a person’s birth year, and it is still widely used today. The zodiac is based on a sixty-year cycle in which each animal represents a different year.
The Chinese zodiac animals are arranged according to the lunar calendar. The origins of this calendar can be traced all the way back to the 14th century B.C. According to legend, Emperor Huangdi, the first Chinese emperor, founded the Chinese lunar calendar in 2637 B.C., which follows the lunar cycles.
The zodiac was based on Chinese astrology and was used to keep track of the calendar’s years, months, days, and hours. The Celestial Stem and the Terrestrial Branch were used to create it. Every two hours in a 24-hour day, each of the 12 animals represents a year in a 12-year cycle, a day in a 12-day cycle, and a year in a 12-year cycle. These were once used to name each year along with the animal signs, but they now primarily utilize the dates.
- “The Chinese Zodiac,” says the author. ChinaOrbit.com. http://chinaorbit.com>, 20 July 2007.
- “History, Stories, andStructure of the Chinese Zodiac.” 07/10/05,4 July 2007 Asian American Faculty and Staff Association http://spirit.dos.uci.edu/aafsa/?q=node/22/>.
What was the order in which the animals entered the zodiac race?
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig are the 12 Chinese zodiac signs, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each sign is named after a different animal, each with its own set of traits. Find out what Chinese zodiac sign you are by entering your date of birth.
Why was the cat omitted from the Chinese horoscope?
The Cat is the 13th animal emblem in the Vietnamese and Gurung zodiacs’ 12-year cycle, replacing the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac. As a result, the Rabbit’s characteristics are assigned to the Cat. The Rat and the Cat are at odds.
Legends about the Chinese zodiac arrangement frequently include tales about why the cat was not included among the twelve animals. Because the Rat duped the cat into missing the Jade Emperor’s dinner, the cat was not invited, was unaware that the feast was taking place, and was not given a year, and thus began the animosity between cats and rats. Domesticated cats may not have been widespread in China at the time of the zodiac’s inception.
Another mythology, known as “The Great Race,” claims that all of the zodiac animals were on their way to the Jade Emperor. The Cat and Rat were the smartest of the animals, but they were also bad swimmers and ended up in a river. They both conned the helpful, ignorant Ox into letting them ride on its back across the river. The Rat pushed the Cat into the river as the Ox approached the opposite side, then hopped from the Ox and dashed to the Jade Emperor, becoming the first of the zodiac. The other animals made it to the Jade Emperor, but the Cat was sabotaged by the Rat and left to drown in the river. This is also supposed to be why cats are continuously on the lookout for rats.
There have been several theories as to why the Vietnamese, unlike all other countries that use the Sino lunar calendar, have the cat as their zodiac animal rather than the Rabbit. The most frequent reason is that “rabbit” (mao) sounds like “cat” in ancient Chinese (meo).
Why is there no lion in the Chinese zodiac?
At the ancient times, the lion was a Chinese zodiac; there was no tiger at all. However, because the lion is a vicious creature, the supreme god wishes to revoke the lion’s Chinese zodiac classification. However, because the lion is the king of all animals, the supreme god is unable to do so.
What is the significance of the Rat being the first animal in the Chinese zodiac?
Regardless of how the rat came to be a part of the Chinese zodiac in the first place, being a part of the group has already altered its fate and broadened its cultural meanings.
The rat is a zodiac sign that represents attributes such as intelligence, flexibility, and vitality. People born in the Year of the Rat are also thought to have these characteristics. The rat was also individualized in characters with gallant spirits in various Chinese Kung Fu tales.
Poems, proverbs, and fairy tales have all been written about the animal, and it has been portrayed by artists in traditional Chinese paintings and statues.
However, their public image isn’t always great. Rats are also thought to be clever, greedy, and sly in Chinese culture. With the coming of the Year of the Rat, the small animal is once again in the spotlight.
Stay tuned to CGTN for more information on the Spring Festival activities, as well as a more complete picture of Chinese culture.
In the Chinese race, which animal came out on top?
The bull and rat were the first to arrive. The ox was overjoyed, thinking he would be the first sign of the year, but the rat had already slipped ahead and became the Chinese zodiac’s first auspicious animal. The rat won the race in this manner.
Why is the Year of the Tiger considered unlucky?
Why is a Zodiac Year considered unlucky?
Offend the Age God. The year 2022 is the Tiger’s year. People born in their zodiac year are said to anger Tai Sui, the God of Age, and be cursed by him, according to Chinese astrology.
Who created the Chinese horoscope?
Beginning Jan. 26, Asian communities around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year with food, firecrackers (to ward off evil spirits), red paper lanterns (red being a bright hue that foreshadows a bright future), and dragon and lion dances for good luck. (A group of dancers holds a model of the animal’s head and a long train depicting its body and moves sinuously to symbolize power and dignity; no lions or dragons are hurt.) Such customs come from an astrological system that dates back to the Shang Dynasty (about 1700 B.C. ), when soothsayers would burn turtle shells or goat or bovine shoulder blades and utilize the cracks to predict what would happen in the future. Years later, the remains of these “readings” were discovered and dubbed “dragon bones.” The time marks the beginning of the Chinese link to the celestial bodies that form the basis of the Chinese zodiac, despite the fact that these approaches were not technically astrological. (Photos of Chinese New Year celebrations can be found here.)
The Chinese calendar is based on the revolution of the moon, therefore the new year might fall anywhere between mid-January and late-February. According to tradition, Ta Nao, an Emperor Huang Ti’s minister, invented the calendar, which has been used in Asia from 4000 B.C. It is based on 12 temperaments represented by 12 symbolic animals: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig (the dragon being the well-known favorite). The cycle restarts after 12 years, matching the duration of Jupiter’s solar orbit. (See “China’s Year of the Ox Isn’t So Bullish.”)
Each animal in the zodiac is linked to a specific element.
Metal, wood, earth, water, or fire are the elements given to each year. A person’s personality is believed to be defined by the mix of these two traits. For example, 2009 is the year of the earth ox, yet the ox’s fixed element is water; some say the combination of the two elements, earth and water, is destructive.
Animals and some of the years they connect to:
1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003: Goat/Sheep (well-mannered, altruistic, insecure, reckless)
1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, Monkey (independent, passionate, unscrupulous, infantile personality)
Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005): resourceful, adventurous, short-sighted, impractical
1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 (attentive, faithful, stubborn, guarded)
1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, pig/boar (sincere, cultivated, noncompetitive, gullible)
1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 (hardworking, thrifty, quick-tempered, neurotic)
1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 (patient, self-sacrificing, jealous, inflexible)
1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, Tiger (fortunate, bold, vain, undisciplined)
1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, Rabbit (ambitious, unflappable, aloof, private)
1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 (intuitive, influential, demanding, judgemental)
1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 (calm, intellectual, indolent, possessive)
1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 (entertaining, forceful, egotistical, rebellious)
Elements that correspond to specific animals include:
Wood (tiger, rabbit, dragon) represents high moral standards and a proclivity for taking on too much.
Earth (not fixed because it is made up of the other four elements): practical and dependable, but lacking in inventiveness)
Aggressive, domineering, dynamic in voice and action (snake, horse, sheep)
When charting a person’s characteristics or predicting what the new year will bring, a Chinese astrologer takes all of these factors into account. These forecasts aren’t just for carnival sideshows or fortune cookies; in many Asian cultures, the year’s forecasts are closely scrutinized for omens relating to business, romantic, and family decisions in the future year. Some Chinese parents schedule their children’s births during dragon years in order to increase their children’s fortune. Some persons who were born in the “wrong” years have apparently been denied entry to weddings and funerals. Those planning for 2009 should be aware that, due to the lack of fire in this year’s prophecy, fortune tellers believe the economy will do no better than it did in 2008, the year of the rat.